Professor Pumpkin!

Pumpkin will be eight years old on Monday. I am wondering how much longer he will allow me to call him Pumpkin on our blog. That was his name when he was in my tummy, before he was born. Eight seems older...we will see.

Last weekend we had a "Science Party" to celebrate his birthday. You can have a lot of fun and make a lot of noise with ten boys and science experiments.

This party was a big reminder to me of what we were doing last year at this time. Last November we got a call from our agency and they asked us if we wanted to come to Ethiopia two weeks early. Our original date to travel was Dec. 3rd. We got the call on a Monday and the change would mean that we would leave on Thursday. Leaving early would mean that we would be in Ethiopia for Thanksgiving and we would also miss Pumpkin's birthday.

We sat down with all the kids and asked them what they thought. I specifically asked Pumpkin what he thought about us being gone for his birthday. He put his arm around me and said, "It's OK Mom, you need to go and bring them home." What a brave boy at almost seven years old!

Exactly one year ago today, we got on a plane for the trip of our life!

Here are a few shots from the fun time at Pumpkin's party.

A silly shot from some very Serious Scientists

Professor Pumpkin building a toothpick and marshmallow tower.

Rocket Blasters

This was the absolute favorite activity of the day. Each boy got an empty film canister. They filled it halfway with water and dropped in 1/4 of a piece of Alka Seltzer. They quickly put on the lid and waited for the fun. In about a minute the lid comes flying off and the squeals of laughter ensued.

This activity was repeated until the supply of Alka Seltzer was depleted. So much fun!

If your kids haven't tried this, make sure to give it a try. It's a BLAST!!!

Sweet Momma